TheNorthCydeRises

No. If the stipulation is that Howard would play in ATL only if Josh were here, then we'd have to keep Josh. The deal would have to be much sweeter than what you proposed. - Horford - Teague - Korver - 1st round pick ( Houston ) for Dwight. That's the only way you're going to get the Lakers to seriously think about moving Dwight, if they would move him at all.

LOL @ calling Melo the "Cereal Killer". And very nice with the old Andrew Toney "Boston Strangler" reference. The Sixers were really the 1st team I started liking in the NBA as a kid, before we got cable, and got to see the Hawks games on TBS every now and then. For those of you who are too young to remember Andrew Toney, here is the "Boston Strangler" in action. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Im-x2kxBk

That's why I still contend that we should offer a legit trade package to LA right now, instead of playing this game of chicken over the summer. Make it right now, and see how all parties respond to it . . . Lakers, Howard, etc. If they turn it down, NOW you can also make a decision on Josh Smith's future here in ATL. I want Dwight to flat out say . . . "YES . . I would consider playing in Atlanta for the Hawks." I mean damn, he hasn't even said that, and people still have all of their hope that he'll come here, with the stipulation that we keep Smith. That's a hell of a dream to hold onto going into the summer, when the Lakers will have his rights and can pay him the most.

Heat - Celtics go to Double OT

You know that's not how the NBA works, especially when you have other good to great players on the team. People were thinking the same thing about us, when Horford went down last year. Boston and Miami are currently in OT. And the reason why, is because Rondo's absence forces Pierce to play that all-around game that he's been known for throughout his career. And now KG is looking for his shot a whole lot more. Then you have the Boston guards ( Bradley, Harris, Terry . . and now Barbosa . . who was asking to be traded out of Boston early this week ) all being looked at to contribute in a big way. The result so far with 2 minutes to go in OT? 31 points - 9 rebounds - 7 assists total between the 4 guards. Boston is a veteran team. And even if their losing streak will continue today, look for this injury to ironically have them playing better in the 2nd half of the season. This isn't to say that they're better without Rondo, but remember They beat us in the playoffs last year WITHOUT Rondo, in Game 2. A game which would've given us total control of that series, but they still dominated us in that game.

I read that on CelticsBlog.com myself. They were in awe of Korver, while blasting Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers, saying that they need to be traded ( Pierce ) or fired ( Doc ).

Well he wasn't too thrilled about coming here when the Bulls traded him for that trade exception we got from trading away JJ. The main thing is that if we're going to have all of this cap space in the summer, he's one of the guys who we'll probably have to renounce the rights to, to have that cap room. He'll get picked up by somebody though. To be a low 2nd round pick, he's really carved out a niche for himself as a deadly 3 point specialist. If he'd play for 5 - 6 mill a year for another 3 years, the Hawks may be the team that picks him up.

For a guy that sees over 95% of his shots created for him via assists, that's great. Kyle had a fantastic game tonight, and has been shooting lights out for about 4 or 5 games now. The facts are though that he will always be a one dimensional player, because he can't create his own shot. The sad thing is that a shooter like Korver might have been the difference on those past Hawk playoff teams, when JJ was a 20 - 4 - 4 player . . and Marvin was a highly inconsistent 3 point shooter. At the end of the day, a swap of JJ and Korver will lead to the same thing for the Hawks . . . a quick playoff exit. Who cares about how much money the team itself saved, if the result is still going to be the same. We need as much talent on this team as possible. And the Hawks flat out refused to do that over the years, for fear of paying significant Luxury Tax. Real teams pay the tax, because they're going all out to win. Teams like us handicap themselves, because they are deathly afraid of losing that extra NBA money, and having to become a taxpaying team.

Joe made 3rd team All-NBA in the 2009 - 10 season. In the summer of 2010, he got his max deal. Every guy on each of those teams that year ( except Andrew Bogut ) either were playing under a max deal, or got a max deal in the immediate future. And max deals are dished out to players according to how important a team thinks he may be to their franchise. This is why a struggling Cleveland may very well toss the max out to Josh. Josh and his agent probably know this. So they'll use that against the Hawks to get the maximum amount of money they can. In other words, if a team like Cleveland offers Josh 4 yrs - 80 million . . . Josh may tell the Hawks to at least come at him with a 5 yr - 100 million deal. Would he sign for 5 yrs - 90 million? Maybe. That's a lot of money for the Hawks to invest in Josh though, especially when he's the least efficient offensive player on the team.

Teams that will give Josh a MAX deal CHARLOTTE: They're a team devoid of talent, but have two 1st round picks this summer. I think Michael Jordan was at the ATL - CHAR game to not only watch his team, but to watch Smith on the floor. And he did put on a show for His Airness the other night. CLEVELAND: On a team that already has a superstar ( Kyrie Irving ) and one of the best rebounders in the league in Varejao, Cleveland could easily give Josh a MAX contract and still have room to add a few very good mid level players. Add that to the fact that they could also get another lottery pick ( possibly Shabazz Muhammad ), and the Cavs could become VERY GOOD, very quickly. HOUSTON: They already play at the fastest pace in the league. With ball handlers like Harden and Lin to pass him the ball for easy shots, alley-oops, and wide open jumpers, Josh would be in heaven in the Houston system. These are all teams that could use a good big man. And teams that would be willing to overpay for him as well, seeing that Dwight Howard wouldn't have any of these teams on his "wish list". I think Dallas would go after Josh as well, but not for the MAX.

lol . . . damn Josh overtime

WOW KORVER He must be playing NBA JAM . . . because HE'S ON FIRRRRREEEEEEEEE !!!

IVAN absorbing that contact like it wasn't nothing . . and gets the 3 point play. Tied at 69

So glad this team showed a little heart tonight. Teague looking like a leader.

BING ( friggin ) O!!

That's why I think all of this talk about Howard isn't serious. Even the fans aren't willing to give up the farm, in order to get him. May as well kill the talk then. Because we're not getting that guy for free. We're not trading Petro, Morrow, Harris, and Lou Williams for Dwight.

Dol . . we don't even know if Josh Smith is going to stay here at season's end. It's not like he's said that he wanted to re-sign at the end of the year either. He's going to weigh his options as well. The fact is that 2 of our best 3 players are NOT ENOUGH to get us out of the 1st ( possibly the 2nd ) round of the playoffs. So if you have to get rid of them, just to have an advantage of obtaining a guy who is a top 20 player in the league, then so be it. LOL . . as bad as Teague was playing 2 weeks ago, people were ready to trade him. Now he's a vital part of the franchise? And we survived all year without Horford. If we sincerely want Dwight, we need to go after him . . . HARD. If we let this go to the summer, we're going to not only lose him, but also be forced to sign Josh Smith to a near max, long term contract.

Ferry doesn't have to say it himself. All he has to do is put out a "strong rumor" of this type of deal going down. NBA franchises do this all the time, to test the waters of a trade, without specifically saying it themselves ( although it would have more weight if they did publically say it ). This is how the game is played. How the Rockets acquired James Harden http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--inside-look-at-james-harden-s-trade-to-rockets-28301609.html Before sitting down a final time with Pelinka, Presti became more serious in his discussions with Morey. Houston wanted Harden badly, believed he would evolve into a transcendent franchise star for a championship-caliber team and planned to award him a five-year maximum contract worth nearly $80 million. So, Presti laid out what he wanted for Harden and the original price was steep: Kevin Martin, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lamb and three first-round picks, including Houston's own in 2013. Across 72 hours and culminating on Friday night, the deal became this: Martin, Lamb and two first-round picks, including a guaranteed plumb lottery pick via Toronto. Before Presti sat down with Pelinka on Saturday morning to make his final offer of $54 million over four years, the Rockets were made to understand: If Harden turns it down, your long-awaited star is on his way to Texas. *************** And THAT'S how you get a superstar player. You give up a lot, for a player who you envision being a franchise changing player. At the very least, Ferry needs to be willing and able to do something like this behind the scenes, if not put rumors of it out there publically, to drum up interest in a trade like this going down. Contrary to popular belief, we do NOT hold the advantage, if we let this thing go to the summer. We need to make our move NOW, if he's serious about even making a move.

Why? We're 24 - 18 with Al, Jeff, and Kyle It's not like we're about to win an NBA title with those 3. There's no superstar in ATL. So instead of trying to gain a better advantage of getting Howard to ATL, you'd rather reduce your chances by letting that dude even think about hitting the FA market and choose some other team? If I had his rights, I'd MAKE that dude turn down a max contract. And if he doesn't want to come here, I'm ending ALL rumors about pursuing him. To me, it's rapidly becoming "put up or shut up" time for the Hawks.

I guess this is me thinking like Wretch. You guys say that is "too much" to give up for Dwight. My question is this . . . if we're not going anywhere ANYWAY, what is really "too much"? Korver is likely to not be here next year, because he's unrestricted in the summer. Teague is a restricted free agent in the summer ( and the Hawks didn't even offer an extension to him ), so people are going to come after him too. And Houston's pick is going to be a mid to low 1st round pic. It's not like that's a lottery pick. Only Horford has a guaranteed contract for next year. So what is there to lose? Unless Dwight STILL wouldn't sign with the Hawks. And if that's the case, stop with the Dwight Howard talk and rumors altogether. If he wouldn't re-sign with the Hawks after we obtained his rights, and with his buddy Josh Smith here, and with us having the ability to pay him as much as we want . . . we need to kill any rumor that we have interest in the guy. Ferry could end this right now if he wanted. He's not serious though, so he won't. He'll simply let fans believe that we have a "shot" at Dwight, without publically saying that he wants Dwight and that Dwight wants to come here.

Teague is a restricted free agent this summer. That means that Ferry is going to have to deal with some sort of a Teague situation regardless. A team desperate for a PG or PG depth, is going to come after Teague and give him an offer sheet. Maybe a big one like with Houston did with Lin. All I'm saying is that we can potentially end all of this RIGHT NOW, with a significant deal to the Lakers. D'Antoni may love to have those 3 players to work with, even if it meant giving up Howard. And the national media would talk up that 3 player deal as something that both teams could benefit from.

Because if you ARE serious, you'd make whatever inquiry you presented to the Lakers public. Tell us what you offered to them. If the Lakers are even remotely thinking about trading Dwight, public pressure on them may make them do it. So put an offer out there that would make the entire sports world talk about if our deal would be worth the Lakers taking - Al Horford - Jeff Teague - Kyle Korver - 1st round pick ( from Houston ) for Dwight Put it out there, and put pressure on ALL PARTIES to get a deal done. If you REALLY want Dwight, give the Lakers a package that they'd definitely have to think twice to turn down. That package would represent just about everything they need right now. A shooter. A backup PG ( who could be a starter ). And a high quality big man that would fit D'Antoni's system perfectly. Matte of fact, all 3 would thrive in D'Antoni's system. If Hawk fans are so sure that Dwight will eventually choose Atlanta, why not trade for him right now? We'd lose Teague, so re-sign Harris. We'd lose Korver, but John Jenkins is the heir to his spot as the long range spot up shooter anyway. We'd lose Horford, but Ivan could at least replace 65% of what Al brought to the table, with Zaza replacing the rest ( if we chose to re-sign him ). Guaranteed Salary and Cap Holds going into the summer of 2013, if we made this type of trade SALARIES Lou Williams - 5.23 mill John Jenkins - 1.26 mill 1st round pick - 1.1 mill ( approximately ) Total: 7.6 mill ( approx ) CAP HOLDS Dwight Howard: 20.51 mill Josh Smith: 16.4 mill Devin Harris: 12.75 mill Zaza Pachulia: 7.87 mill Anthony Morrow: 7.6 mill Ivan Johnson: 1.25 mill Total: 66.4 mill ( approx ) GRAND TOTAL: 72 mill ( approx ) . . . amongst 9 players At this point, the Hawks would have multiple options here. They could renounce everyone except Howard and Smith, sign them, and still have room under the salary cap to add another decent starting caliber player plus other role players They could sign Howard and Smith, plus retain guys like Devin ( with a lesser contract ), Zaza ( for about the same money, but maybe less years ) and Ivan ( who may see an increase to 3 mill per year ) . . . and still have enough room under the Luxury Tax to add a MLE caliber player and some decent vet minimum contracts to fill out the team ************************ New Hawks team PG: Harris - vet minimum FA G: Jenkins - Williams ( 6th man ) F: MLE level FA - 1st round pick/vet minimum FA PF: Smith - Ivan C: Horford - Zaza ( or a center in that price range ) The Hawks are going to play this game of "chicken" with LA, Dallas, and Howard in the offseason . . . and LOSE. So why not try to tip our chances in our favor right now? Make his immature azz turn down that extra 25 million from US, and justify why he'd want to play in Dallas for less money.

Let's say everything works in the Hawks favor and they somehow get Dwight Howard to sign with them during the summer. This is the $1,000,000 question

Wow. With the year that Steph Curry and the Warriors are having, how does he NOT get in? Kinda shocked that Lopez didn't get in either. And I guess JJ's late push for a spot wasn't enough to get him in.

The coaches also know a little about being a big time/big moment player too. Which is why if JJ gets in, that will be the reason. Does Drew ( ATL ) vote for JJ? . . . .yes How about Woody ( NYK )? . . . . . yes Doc Rivers ( BOS )? . . . . . . . . . . yes Byron Scott ( CLE )? . . . . . . . . . . yes Lawrence Frank ( DET )? . . . . . . . yes Dwayne Casey ( TOR )? . . . . . . . .yes Randy Wittman ( WAS )? . . . . . . .yes The vote will be close, but he'll get in. Kyrie is a lock. But "Awful Joe" will make it too.